16th Worcester District candidates Claros and Donahue square off

Thursday

Sep 5, 2013 at 6:00 AM

By Steven H. Foskett Jr TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — Just six days before the special election, 16th Worcester District state representative candidates Daniel Donahue and Carol Claros debated issues and approaches at a forum Wednesday night in the basement of Our Lady of Lourdes Church.

Mr. Donahue, a Democrat, and Ms. Claros, a Republican, chewed through a host of issues in the hour-long forum, sponsored by the Grafton Hill Business Association, the Grafton Hill Neighborhood Association and the Oak Hill Community Development Corp., and moderated by Charter TV3 news supervisor and sports anchor Andy Lacombe.

Ms. Claros framed many of her answers around her support for lowering taxes and easing regulations for small businesses. Creating that business-friendly climate will create jobs that can affect positive change in the district's neighborhoods, Ms. Claros said.

For example, she said she was opposed to sitting down and rewriting contracts with banks to address the foreclosure crisis; she said she wondered what kind of precedent that would set.

She said three out of four jobs in the state are attached to small businesses; and that more employment opportunities will keep people in their homes and will combat crime.

Mr. Donahue said growing jobs is only a piece of the puzzle. He said in the shortened term the winner of the Sept. 10 election will inherit it will be important to reach out to banks and get them at the table with the city and neighborhood organizations like the Oak Hill CDC. He said it's not about rewriting contracts, but about showing the banks that not moving these foreclosed homes is blighting neighborhoods.

"People can't wait for us to legislate our way out of it," Mr. Donahue said, pledging to reach out to banks on his first day in office.

Crime has plagued neighborhoods in the 16th Worcester District, which includes Grafton Hill, Vernon Hill, Quinsigamond Village, parts of College Hill, Green Island, and the Massasoit Road area.

Ms. Claros said that as a single parent, she knows how important it is to ensure public safety. She said it will be important as a state representative to work with public safety officials in the district to make sure they have the funding to make the district safe.

Ms. Claros said she is also in favor of tougher sentencing for habitual sexual offenders, and said she will advocate for getting illegal guns off the streets.

Mr. Donahue said he supports the experimental policing district that was piloted in the district. But he said ensuring public safety includes more than just law enforcement. It's about cracking down on absentee landlords and engaging community partners. For example, Union Hill is "under siege," Mr. Donahue said. Bringing in jobs is important, but action needs to be taken now, he added.

Ms. Claros focused on lowering taxes and removing regulatory barriers to small business as a way to drive economic development in the district.

Mr. Donahue said the biggest economic development potential in the district is along the Route 20 corridor and what he described as the Quinsigamond Avenue "gateway." He said he will push to secure funding for infrastructure improvements like the long-awaited sewer upgrades on Route 20.

But Ms. Claros said that when she hears infrastructure improvements, it means more taxes. She said there has been talk for 15 years about sewers along Route 20, but it has never happened. She said the focus needs to on jobs and the economy.

Mr. Donahue countered that tax cuts alone don't grow jobs. He said businesses have been lured to the city with promises of tax breaks, only to walk away. Infrastructure improvements work — just look at the success of Gateway Park, Mr. Donahue said.

Ms. Claros said she plans on holding weekly office hours, and at a few different points went back and forth from English to Spanish. She said she would be able to give a voice to historically under-represented voters.

Mr. Donahue said one of the reasons he wanted to run for state representative was because of the direct contact with voters. He said he plans on spending a lot of time in the district having conversations with people. He gave out his cellphone number in response to one question Wednesday night.

"If you have a problem, I have a problem," Mr. Donahue said.

Ms. Claros portrayed herself as an independent candidate who can relate to working families. She took a subtle swipe at her opponent by saying she couldn't quit her job as a nurse at Concord state prison to campaign full-time. That was a reference to Mr. Donahue's resignation from Mayor Joseph Petty's staff over the summer.

Mr. Donahue said he's his own man. Born and raised in the district, he highlighted his deeps roots here. He said he's a "kid from the village who knows this neighborhood."

Seeing his role as an advocate and listener, Mr. Donahue said another important part of being a state representative is looking forward.

"You look at Route 20, you look at Quinsigamond Ave., you look at a new Crompton Park. You look at things ahead of the game," Mr. Donahue said, noting that he is also looking long-term at uses for the possible mitigation money that could come from a new slots operation being built in neighboring Millbury.

Ms. Claros and Mr. Donahue both asked members of the audience at Our Lady of Lourdes for their vote Tuesday. The special election was called to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of John Fresolo, who stepped down amid a House ethics investigation